Dear Editor: The following is a an open letter to the residents of Jersey City from Mayor Healy

Dear Residents of Jersey City

Let me begin my saying, “Thank you.” Thank you for giving me the opportunity to lead this City and work my hardest each and every day for all of you. For the past twelve years, I have had the honor and privilege of representing you - the people of Jersey City – first as an At-Large Councilman and for the last eight and a half years as your Mayor.

Working for you has been the most rewarding job anyone could ask for, and the challenges we faced, and how we faced them, were some of our defining moments. No matter the issue – we never gave up.

Whether it was standing up to the gun lobby and the NRA to enact common sense gun legislation in our city or fighting chromium polluters to clean up toxic sites or to lobbying our legislators in Trenton to enact a hotel tax here, we always put the best interest of the Jersey City residents first.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to get to know many of you personally. I have been in your shops and your homes, I have met you on the street and in City Hall, I have heard your concerns and listened to your struggles.

And together we made important strides in improving our City.

During our tenure, we hired hundreds of police officers and firefighters, in many cases using federal grants, and when every other city around the state and nation was forced to layoff public safety personnel, we worked with our police and fire unions and avoided layoffs. As a result, crime has continued to trend down in our city, and last year we recorded the lowest homicide rate since records were kept.

We paved the way for development along our West Side at the former Honeywell site and have brought jobs and rateables in the form of the new global headquarters of Goya Foods and the Prologis Warehouse.

We have implemented sustainability practices that have made Jersey City an award-winning city and we have renovated parks throughout our city and are currently building two new, large municipal parks – Berry Lane and Skyway Park.

And we have always kept an eye on the bottom line, working to stabilize taxes even after being cut $70 million in state aid. Under our watch, Moody’s raised Jersey City’s bond rating from negative to positive.

So, as I leave the Office of Mayor, part of me will always be with you – the people of Jersey City. I will not be far, as Jersey City will always be my home.

To the new Mayor, Steven Fulop, as I said on Election Night, I wish you and your administration the best as you take stewardship of our great City. Your success will be our success, and all of the people who live here will benefit.